Due to shortage of fossil fuels and banning nuclear power production in several countries, the manufacturing industries are augmenting their efforts to develop energy-saving processes and products. On the other hand, as the environment protection has become a paramount priority for many countries, environmentally rooted constraints, such as carbon dioxide emission levels, have been imposed on numerous processes and products. Reduction of weight of parts and structures can be an effective answer to both above identified challenges. For example, in the automotive industry, with the advent of electrically powered and hybrid vehicles, the weight of the vehicle has become a critical design point, since the weight of an electrical battery employed to accumulate the energy needed to drive the powertrain considerably exceeds the weight of the gasoline that would have been needed to accomplish the same task by employing an internal combustion engine. In another example, reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by an aircraft can be achieved by reducing the fuel consumption by the aircraft, which in turn can be achieved by reducing the aircraft weight.
Weight reduction in motor vehicle manufacturing, aircraft manufacturing and other industries can be achieved, inter alia, by the substituting metal structures with structures manufactured of composite materials, e.g., carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP). CFRP structures can be up to 50% lighter than similar parts manufactured of steel and up to 30% lighter than similar component manufactured of aluminum.
There are many techniques available for manufacturing composite parts or structures, including, e.g., wrapping, molding and/or laying-up various combinations of fiber-based materials and resins. Various shapes of composite components can be achieved using shells and mandrels of various configurations. Removing the mandrel can present a process design challenge in situations when the component being manufactured is a three-dimensional structure having one or more recesses or protrusions.